Snowy roads create driving hazards around DC area

Steady snowfall on Monday made roads treacherous for motorists in the National Capital Region.

The National Weather Service said “roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slippery and hazardous” as a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain is expected to fall through Tuesday morning.

Virginia, Maryland and District transportation officials urged people to avoid driving so snowplows and work crews can treat the roads.

It appears drivers have heeded the warning: Accidents have been kept to a minimum so far Monday, according to a live traffic map created by WTOP News.

Most of the accidents that have occurred have occurred on highways.

In Maryland, two crashes were recorded along Interstate 270 in Montgomery County between 6 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., and another crash along Interstate 95 near Laurel was documented just before 8 a.m.

In Virginia, a crash on Interstate 495 near Telegraph Road blocked the right lane of the highway.

Meanwhile, Virginia State Police said in a news release that they responded to more than 200 crashes between 4 p.m. Sunday and 4 a.m. Monday, although not all were related to a storm, according to the Associated Press.

Several accidents resulted in injuries, one of which was fatal. A 32-year-old man died around midnight in Wakefield, south of Richmond, after his truck left the road and struck a tree. Police said he was driving too fast for the road, the AP reported.

A crash on DC 295 in Southeast Washington slowed traffic in both directions, as did a motorcycle crash on North Capitol Street that bogged down motorists between K Street and L Street.

Area commuter buses have either canceled service for the day or reduced their available routes.

The Fairfax Connector bus in suburban Virginia will not run Monday due to weather.

Metrobus reduced its normal 193 routes to 42 due to “deteriorating conditions and impassable roads on several routes.”